[ANNIVERSARY] QN5 Music Celebrates A Decade Of ‘The New Hip Hop’ - A Letter From Tonedeff

Holy smokes…has it really been 10 years? Well, technically, it’s 13, being that I released The Monotone EP way back in 1997, but I didn’t have the roster then. So, I’ll just go with a decade.

Ya know, as a kid, I used to draw my own cassette covers for albums that didn’t exist. Today, I can examine the CD booklets and read credits for over 50 releases (plus a bunch of boxes in my apartment I need to get rid of).

Anytime I reflect on where life has taken me, it’s easy to get lost in the myriad of ‘coulda-woulda-shoulda’ moments but one thing remains abundantly clear: despite the roadblocks (and there have been PLENTY), I manage to release the music I believe in – challenging conventions with NO COMPROMISES.

Still, we’ve managed to infiltrate the MTVs, Rolling Stones, Hot 97s, Lollapaloozas of the world – albeit in a limited capacity – all while refusing to draw from the well of industry formula. In this day and age, I don’t think I have to tell you how rare that is doing what we do. And for all this risk, we’ve been rewarded with one of the most hardcore fan-bases on the planet. And while I may never be able to buy a private plane (or a scooter), that’s the next best thing to wealth I can think of.

100% Independently Independent Indies

QN5 Merch Booth @ Rocksteady Anniversary 2002 (NYC)

Ya know, alot of things have changed over the years – the industry climate, our roster, our sound, our logo, etc. I’ve seen plenty of indie labels come and go, talented artists call it quits and big distros go belly up – yet, we’ve managed to weather the storm. The irony is that now, with the social media boom, labels are just recently beginning to do what we’ve been doing since day 1. It’s more ironic considering all the grief they gave us for taking to the web so early on.

Hell, it’s even trendier to have an indie label today then ever – (something I thought wasn’t possible way back in 98 when every trust-fund baby was putting out 12” singles). But, the reality is that 98% of those that talk about their ‘labels’ are basically just a logo and not much else. I recently read an article in the NY Times about how major labels are having their signed artists pose as grassroots ‘indie’ artists to appeal to folks [READ HERE]. But that’s all for show. Those ‘fans’ aren’t dedicated enough to stick around when the pool gets dirty or the air gets thin. They’ll figure that out the hard way eventually.

I’ve made a concerted effort to document all of our steps via video, blogs, pictures and of course music, to show you where we came from, why we did it and and how we’ve developed. Through that process, QN5.com has become my own semi-personal family photo/video album. Each show photo triggers floods of memories of how we drove 17 hours for 30 people in attendance, parading for hours uphill in upstate NY through the snow with boxes of merch in search of a hotel, fucked up sound systems, venue-owner debacles and more. If y’all only knew the half of it, you prolly woulda paid me to quit before buying any of our releases. But we pushed through all of that, and here we are…still.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Up! Even after 13 years, there’s still plenty of work to do. We’re still reaching further and looking to grow our community. If you’re a blue schooler, then you know the drill already: Each one – teach one. While I still feel that there’s a bit of a deadzone in the public’s attention span, my goal is to see QN5 Music universally regarded as one of the top indie music labels ever. We’re going push as hard as we can to make that happen – and we won’t do it without you.

Fortunately, you’ll have plenty of reasons to cheer us on, as 2010 is 100% on course to accomplish our QK10 Plan in full. I’m already combing over the TON of new music AND visuals that are queued up. I’m still a very firm believer in quality music and community – so we’re not cutting corners, just giving you more of what you love.

Shouts to Mrs. Deff, Pack, Kno, Deacon, Substantial, Kokayi, Mr. SOS, Domingo, Mr. Mecca, Elite, Session, JS-1, Akolades, Chris, Samiha, Kontrast and everyone that’s ever been involved over the years, assisting the kid in his dream – I sincerely appreciate all of your time, talent and loyalty. Special big ups to all the DJs that bump our shit in their sets/mixtapes (we know we haven’t made it easy on you). To all the girls that were dragged to our shows by their boyfriends and are now huge fans (bring your friends next time). If you’re still not up on what we do… there’s no better time than the present.

And of course – THANK YOU TO ALL THE BLUE SCHOOLERS!!!!! Y’all mean the world to us. Just remember, as long as you chip in for gas, we’ll gladly keep driving.

So Happy Cinco De Mayo, you drunken fucks!

Hollerate,
TonedeffFounder , QN5 Music

PS. In honor of our anniversary, we’d like everyone to share their favorite QN5-related memories via Twitter. Just hashtag #qn5

I’ve been around from the beginning, but it’s still amazing to see what it has become. QN5 has grown up right along with me. It has been a source of some great memories, and was the link that led me to some of my best friends. I’m always thankful, and I’m always down for the cause.

Happy anniversary QN5! I just realised that I’ve been folowing y’all for already five years now (considering my inscription date on the forum) and I couldn’t imagine a life without QN5 and I promise to buy every product out ‘til the end :p .
Thanks a lot for the music!

Tone, as blessed as you feel to have fans like the blue schoolers, imagine how we feel to have that love returned to us constantly. The music is only part (albeit a pretty big part) of the reason we stick around. You guys have built a community around your label and made your fans feel like part of a movement. It’s brilliant, and we love you for it.

Tone, I couldn’t begin to understand the trials and tests and downright shit that you and the crew have been through to keep the label alive. But, I know you’ve been through it, because the struggle reflects in the music. Which has been nothing but improvement and progression with every release.

Dear Tone,
That was a touching post. All the best to you for all your hard work and commitment and most of all, for not losing sight of the vision. Kudos to all the talented people on the label and to all the Blue Schoolers who support. Love to you all

I’ve been a fan for half of that decade. Proud of it too. I look forward to all the future endeavors; you guys seem to get better with age. Not many artists can say they ever made it past a first album, let alone followed up with good ones the second or third go-round. So congrats to QN5 and their consistent commitment to quality and genuine artistry.

Just for a little perspective, I was a 14 year-old freshman in high school when I first discovered QN5. Now I’m a month away from turning 19, having just finished my freshman year of college, and the songs I discovered five years ago are as enjoyable now, and in most cases even more so, than they were when I first heard them. I happened to discover a good deal of music that particular year, and I can’t say that most, or even half of the artists I discovered, are ones that I still find worthwhile now. Sorry for the double post, but I had a little more to add. Congrats to all!

Cheers to the great musicians who stay on their grind to bring us fans the tracks we love. Here’s to QN5 and the future; here’s to many years ahead for us to support y’all’s work. Give love—get love back.

No twitter account but here are my favorite personal memories over past 10 years.

- Tonedeff’s set last megashow. Unreal, to the point that he was encored out to a llllooooooooooud applause.

- Coppin Will Rap For Food when it came out (introduced me to a new world/coppin APOS (7 copies/evolved that world)

- Handing out flyers for PackFM across NYC at 15 years old. Wanted to help out the camp as much as possible from that point on.

- Going to LA for the megashow. Experience was just dope.

- Getting almost all of qn5 at my college to perform. Wish their set coulda’ been even longer and not on a Sunday but it was dooope.

- Meeting Stan. Homie’s been a role model and a big brother to me and his involvement on my project had me geekin’ out.

-And if it wasn’t for QN5 - I wouldn’t have met a lot of dope dope people on these boards. From the Jive to So Fly days to Epic’s hilarious posts to the intro of Dwilli - it’s been a cool ass community.

This is just off the top, but I’m sure everyone has so many memories. To 10 more years. Let’s Tone and fam achieve their dream.

QN5 has gradually become an obsession for me over the past five years.

I think I need counseling.

But really though, all of QN5’s dedication and sacrifice will never go unrecognized or in vein. One thing in particular from Tone that’s stood out to me tremendously since I heard it - “Debating cons of procreation on the hopes he’d trade it all For basic honest home relations. How’d they know it’d take this long?” - That is HUGE and I’m sure we all realize that.

Not only is it a completely life-changing decision, but it’s something you share with your listeners that is without a doubt extremely personal and it’s something I really appreciate about the music not only Tone but the entire label creates. It’s so personal and real. It’s the up’s and down’s of your lives within an audio file, and when someone can relate to any of these experiences you guys manage to express so eloquently - it’s otherworldly.

If you guys ever do a ‘Blue Schooler Of The Decade Award’ I strongly suggest you give that award to houstonz. That dude is a champ and in my opinion QN5’s Librarian! Not only that but he has the best collection of QN-SWAG I’ve ever seen.

I gotta give that one to Dwilli. houstonz is DEFINITELY up there, but to me dwilli just perfectly represents the QN5 fandom haha. houstonz definitely deserves it for all he has put in over the last few years though

Happy 10 years! Much love to all of Qn5, artists and blue schoolers! This label is just all about quality and thats why I love it so much. I dont think there was ever a bad release from Qn5. Not saying this just because I’m a fan but I try to be very rational. It came to a point where I gave my complete trust in everything thats related/released through here. And like PretendGirl said, you really feel like you’re part of a movement because of the community and personal approach.

And thank you for being a part of my everyday life the last 5 years, you are truely some of the most amazing and inspirational people I’ve ever witnessed. How you pull off your scheduling will always be a mystery to me, Tone, but got damn I’m grateful you do.

Qn5 has helped me through basically every emotion I’ve had the last 5 years. When I was in love for the first time, I drove around a little pond several times playing Optimist on repeat until I finally got the courage to just knock on her door. When we were away for some months I played Eclipse several times a day. When I finally realized I could never be with her, I couldn’t stop listening to Porcelain. A Piece of Strange has probably gotten more plays since it’s release than any other album has ever gotten, and has become my all time favorite album - whenever I’m tired, stressed or just really need to relax, I smoke a bowl, take a shower, jump in bed and just listens to it. An almost equally amazing experience every time.

Congrats to everybody on QN5! I have no doubt in my mind that you will reach that status of Top Indie label. From day one I got up on QN5, I’ve been a fan and will keep supporting the music you put out. In fact, I’m kicking my QN5 series off today with DJ JS-1.

Came across APOS and Dirty Acres online four years back and shortly after realized how important great, real music is when I listened to the stuff QN5 put out. It’s blood, sweat and tears from you guys always and people who even remotely give you guys a bit of a try know how much you guys have taken music to the next level. There’s not enough real and passionate artists out there who are making music for the right reasons…that’s why QN5 will always be special to me for actually being the guys (and gals) out there making something special their own way with no compromises. You guys are a group of artists that are so talented, sincere and hard-working.

Cheers for all the great music! Growing up with the internet, I know first hand how few people actually care about music enough to buy it, know the artist or the label and support them. Everyone I know in my age group (in college now) downloads and a significant amount of those only listen to singles or the top 50…But those that you do reach, you always seem to leave a real impression on. The dedicated fan-base speaks for itself. You guys are the reason why I buy music that I like now. So keep doing your own thing QN5 because you guys are changing the world!

Qn5 has made such a impact on my life and with that you have my support. I said it once and I’ll say it again. These guys have a song for every emotion I have every had/felt. The quality is superb and I really could just keep going. Thanks for the all great memories/music and for the more that are to come. BEST LABEL EVER

Ive been listening to you guys for 5 years and it just gets better. Thank you for the music, memories, the joys of pre-order day, the inspiration and the love you reinvigorate me with whenever I feel my love of hip-hop waning. I dont pretend to be the best fan, there are better out there but i’ll tell ya, you guys are fucking heroes to me.

QN5 has been a massive part of my life for the past 7 years.. important years I’ll never forget. Thanks for all your music, your philosophies, your hard work, your friendliness and dragging me out on a plane. You guys are the best.

Its amazing to see how far this shit has grown in the past years. I remember linking up with yall at the FatBeats In Store for “Happy Fuck You Songs”. QN5 has always been a talented collective, and its aged great over the years. Im looking forward to all the releases this year! Peace & Respect to all the Baby Blue Schoolers.